A Day to “Unplug”

In a few weeks time I am going to be watching a documentary by “Zach Galifianakis” in which he spends 31 days with no money, and no contacts, with endless possibilities through the use of Craigslist looking to find a community in what is America today.

By watching the trailer of this movie it really had me begin to think about the last time I had a meal at a restaurant without pulling my phone out, or the last time I went to a place without the desire to “check in” somewhere or to take a picture via instagram, or to see what was happening on facebook when I was feeling bored.

Am I that glued into the internet? The astounding answer is YES YES YES.

And this is why on September 15th, I am taking a day to unplug from the internet. A day to unplug from what is happening out there, and a day to focus in on my family, a day to focus in on a book I’m reading, and a day to focus on what is happening in my life, on a personal level.

I’m leaving the phone in my purse, and I’m spending a day with my significant other, the destination has not been chosen, but we’re going to get reacquainted, and back in touch with what’s happening around us, and not so much what’s happening via our phones or computers.

Remember the days when you’d go to the park and you’d play on the swings, or you’d go to the park holding hands? Or that you’d sit at a restaurant and have an entire conversation throughout the entire meal.

Are you joining in with me? Let’s get the word out, and take a day to “unplug” and connect with what’s really important, our families.

23 Responses to A Day to “Unplug”

I take days where I just unplug from everything. sometimes it doesn’t work with my phone, but my goodness is it relaxing to just slip away back to a time where there wasn’t all these electronic distractions.

This is such a great idea! It’s so important to unplug for at least a day every once in a while. It can be hard, especially when you work online and run a community such as any blogger today, so added pressure from that has a tendency to seep into what was once upon a time our “downtime.” I hope you have a fabulous day with your significant other. I’m sure he’s excited to have you back for the day! That’s kind of how mine feels whenever I tell him that I am done working for the day or that I finished the writing I wanted to get done for the day so I’m free to do whatever. He can hardly believe it and then we spend the aforementioned free time trying to decide what to do.

What a beautiful idea! You really made me stop and think about how plugged in I am. It’s gotten ridiculous! I will definitely give your idea some thought because I think it would definitely be a beneficial break!

This is a great idea. I unplugged for 2 weeks this summer while on vacation, and came back vowing to unplug at least one day a week (mostly on Sunday). It was easy at first, then got more challenging as I got more and more hooked back in. I think we could all use an unplugged holiday!

This is a wonderful idea, Jamie! Few days ago I was having dinner at a restaurant during our weekend getaway & I looked around….my 10 year old was playing on iPod, my teen was texting with his girlfriend, my hubby was on his iPhone and I was quietly drinking my Sangria wondering what happened to us. I asked all of them put their electronics away and I made a rule….NO ELECTRONICS of any kind during meals (doesn’t matter which meal). I am very serious about keeping this rule.

Just thinking of unplugging for a day is both exciting and scary! When I traveled overseas I don’t bother getting an international phone and, although I feel naked at first, I love not being connected while I am there!

I work crazy, insane, mentally deranged hours, mostly from home. Now, many naively believe that working from home is a piece of cake, that it’s this lovely, wonderful, stress free way of putting food on the table.

Excuse me while I press that irritating Game Show Wrong-Answer buzzer.

Everything in life is relative. Compared to the alternatives, throwing on a suit, slogging your way through traffic, taking a disgusting bag lunch—maybe working from home can be sweeter.

But when work at home is bad it can be real bad; and I do mean a real ass kicker.

Distractions, that’s the real killer. Starting at six AM, I tend to get disturbed maybe every twenty or thirty seconds or so. If it’s not one of my phones going off, it’s an email or a text coming in.

And then there’s the non work distractions: One of my family members will ask me something or need me to do something or require my undivided attention—an undivided attention that’s already being divided, sub-divided, diced, sliced and pulverized.

On Sunday, my only true day off, I take great joy in turning off the cellphone. Unplugging Adam Oglesby from the world, baby.

Note to world: Please don’t call me on Sunday.

See that little notice? That a Do Not Disturb sign hung on my life. This notice is for everybody on planet earth and maybe a few who aren’t.

I appreciate your comment Adam and I need more of your attitude Drop everything and that’s my day to do nothing… I tried a bit of that this past weekend… didn’t work as well as I had hoped, but it’s a start.

Alas, as the internet is my literal job and I rarely (never) get a weekend off, I won’t be able to join.

But it is something that I think we all need to be more conscious of. You don’t want to spend so much time talking about life and so little partaking in it (kind of the concept of that one car commercial with the girl with all the FB friends??).

Love, love, love this! I tell my clients all the time to just take their ‘Me’ time and time with their families. It is so important to just unplug and recharge ourselves and reconnect with our loved ones Enjoy your day!

What a great idea Jamie! I haven’t taken a weekend off in awhile, and I’m never without my phone anymore so this sounds like a great thing to do. I could take my camera out and shoot some of the fall colours here.